Louisiana AHGP

Part of the American History and Genealogy Project

Charles D. Yancey

Charles D. Yancey, farmer, Homer, Louisiana Claiborne Parish is acknowledged by all to be one of the best agricultural portions of the State, and as such its citizens are men of advanced ideas and considerable prominence. A worthy man among this class is found in the person of Mr. Yancey who was born in the Old Dominion, Mecklenburg County, August 21, 1841, and is the son of Alexander and Mary A. (Elam) Yancey, natives also of Virginia. The Yancey family is of old Virginia stock, and dates back several generations. Charles Yancey, grandfather of our subject, was a soldier in the Revolution, and Daniel Elam, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was also of old Virginia stock. Alexander Yancey attained his growth in his native State, has been a planter all his life, and now lives at an advanced age in Mecklenburg County. His wife died about 1883.

Charles D. Yancey is one of a family of three sons and five daughters that grew to mature years, and all became heads of families. He received an ordinary education in Mecklenburg County, and this he has greatly improved by study and observation. In 1861 he enlisted in the Fourteenth Virginia Infantry, and served in that until wounded and taken prisoner. He was promoted from private to sergeant and was a participant of the battle of Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, second battle of Manassas, Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg and Gettysburg, where he received a gunshot through the body, and was wounded in both arms and one leg. He was then taken prisoner and held at Baltimore about one month, when he was paroled. He joined the regiment in October following and remained with the same until the termination of the war. He was paroled at Appomattox Courthouse.

Then returning home he remained there about a year and then came west to Louisiana, locating in Claiborne Parish, where he has since resided. For about three years he was engaged in carpentering and clerking, and was married in the house where he now lives December 16, 1869, to Miss Velinda Taylor, a native of Alabama, but who was reared in Claiborne Parish, and the daughter of Hugh Taylor. Mr. Taylor was one of the pioneers of Alabama, and his death occurred July 9, 1874, when seventy-four years of age. After marriage Mr. Yancey located near his present property, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and later bought out the Taylor heirs. In 1877 he located on his present property, consisting of 950 acres of land, all in one body, and 500 acres under cultivation. He devotes the principal part, of his land to cotton, and raises, on an average, eighty bales annually. He has been quite successful in all the occupations in which he has been engaged, and his advanced and progressive ideas have not only resulted in his own good, but is of benefit to those with whom he comes in contact.

He is a stanch Democrat and is well supported in his political views by his wife. Mr. Yancey has served in numerous county conventions, and was a former member of the K. of P. Mrs. Yancey is a member of the Home Missionary Baptist Church. Both are among the most respected of the parish. Corrected too late for alphabetical insertion.

Biographical Sketches| Claiborne Parish

Source: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, Southern Publishing Company, 1890